A method of delivering a tactile sense through vibration has been used to supply information intuitively in various input devices.
In recent years, convergence products having multiple functions have appeared, as various mobile devices such as mobile terminals, PDAs, MP3s, PMPs, and laptop computers are converged. Various efforts to supply an easy-to-use and intuitive interface based on a visual screen have been made and efforts to supply a multi-modal interface have also been made. The method of delivering a tactile sense through vibration has been used earlier to supply information intuitively.
For example, in a game controller device, an eccentric motor for generating vibration is equipped inside the controller device to give various vibration stimuli to a user in various situations such as collision in a car racing game or attack to an avatar in a fighting game. Therefore, the user may intuitively sense emergency situations while enjoying a game.
In a cellular phone, a call-incoming sound may be substituted by vibration using the vibrotactile sense, or device statuses such as button operations and battery shortage may be expressed intuitively. In recent years, efforts are made to subdivide the vibrotactile sense to realize a vibration pattern in various forms by the use of several vibration motors.
As for haptic gloves used to interact with a virtual environment, a user may wear the haptic gloves to control an avatar in a virtual environment through hand movements. When vibration units equipped at the portions corresponding to the fingers and the palm of the haptic gloves appropriately operate in accordance with various situations, the user may be completely immersed in the situations.
However, in the above-mentioned known vibration method, the parts stimulated by vibration are not subdivided. Moreover, a problem arises in that information expressed through the vibrotactile sense is restrained due to a limitation on the configuration of the known device permitting the vibration to be felt in the entire hands holding the device and it is also difficult to express high-level information such as spatial locations and directions.